[Closed] Windscreen Chip Repair - all the same ?

Your insurance might cover it for free.

Autoglass have repaired chips in my cars 4 or 5 times and it's never cost me a bean.

Your insurance might cover it for free.

Autoglass have repaired chips in my cars 4 or 5 times and it’s never cost me a bean.

TBH - I'd rather just pay than have to declare an insurance claim and see how my next insurer charges me.

Normally not recorded as a claim.

Yeah as above free windscreen repair (apart from small excess) is part of your policy isn't it?

If you have a heated screen, and need a replacement screen, be warned that the part AutoGlass will fit won't be the OEM part, and the heating element will be much more visible and irritate you for 20,000 miles until it cracks and itself needs replacing.

In that case, they might or might not be able to supply a genuine VW part if you're prepared to wait. If you go direct to VW and get them to fit it, you might have trouble getting the money out of your insurance company. As you can probably guess, BTDT.

you don't even need to go through your insurance company - I've always dealt directly with Autoglass on a couple of occasions to get repairs done under insurance - there is a common fund all insurance company contributes to for this. The insurance companies want you to repair chips as it prevents then from leading to cracks and much more expensive windscreen replacements. Also windscreens are now structural members of a car so a cracked windscreen will lead to higher personal injury insurance claims in the event you have a crash due to higher likelihood of structural integrity of the car being compromised.

Son got one done on his car that cost about £20 excess, he was moaning when it cracked within a couple of miles ,then I pointed out they would replace the windscreen FOC as they had taken the repair on so he was quite happy(excess would have been £70) Autoglass

he was moaning when it cracked within a couple of miles ,then I pointed out they would replace the windscreen FOC as they had taken the repair on so he was quite happy

That's pretty good advice!

you don’t even need to go through your insurance company – I’ve always dealt directly with Autoglass on a couple of occasions to get repairs done under insurance – there is a common fund all insurance company contributes to for this.

I didn't know that but won't I still have to declare it as a claim?

but won’t I still have to declare it as a claim?

Don’t think it does

The Rain X windscreen repair kit is about £10 and is as good as any professional repair.

paton

The Rain X windscreen repair kit is about £10 and is as good as any professional repair.

Yeah, I was thinking of something like that... but like Falkirk-mike said getting it done professionally you have some guarantee if the rest all fails...

Autoglass are quoting £165, Halfords £30 .... Rain X £8 ...
Reading up the Halfords one uses a UV lamp for curing the internal resin.
A few reviews say the whole windscreen cracked during the process... which does sound scary.

Has anyone tried getting nicks in the glass fixed/filled? I've got two in line of sight but the glass is not cracked. They are tiny but tend to make you feel a bit crosseyed!

I notice that 'they' will only do repairs on certain areas of the screen. How strictly do they enforce that?

The Rain X windscreen repair kit is about £10 and is as good as any professional repair.

Thanks, might give that a go.

Just get autoglass to come and do it. Likely to cost a tenner and I’ve never declared it as a claim.

I’ve had 4 or 5 chips done on cars and a full screen (£70xs) on the van.

You'll still see the repair, but it's better than leaving it. Mine got a chip and a 5mm crack over 10 years ago. Autoglass did the repair, the chip's hardly visible, but the crack can be seen, but it's not changed in that time and passes MOT every time with no advisory. Long term, the repairs are permanent from my experience.

Didn't cost anything, and was from my insurance - didn't affect premium or no claims. Check your policy.